From FIRE to IRIS: How Enterprise Finance Teams Are Preparing for the Change

The IRS's retirement of the FIRE system isn't just a technical upgrade — for enterprise finance teams, it's a forcing function to re-examine how 1099 compliance gets done.

In this candid session, Gordon Walsh, Avalara's 1099 & W-9 Senior Product Solution Consultant, joins IOFM's Mark Brousseau to explore how leading organizations are getting ahead of the FIRE-to-IRIS transition: from the internal audits that are kicking things off, to the process gaps IRIS is exposing, to the technology decisions teams are wrestling with — and how the most prepared organizations are rebuilding their 1099 workflows to be ready for the 2027 filing season and beyond.

If you're a VP of Accounts Payable, Controller, or Tax Director trying to figure out what the FIRE-to-IRIS change means for your organization, this session will give you the peer perspective and practical framework you need.

You'll walk away with clarity on:

• What the FIRE-to-IRIS change actually requires of enterprise team
• How to assess your existing systems and identify the gaps IRIS exposes
• What solutions are available and how to evaluate them
• The process and technology changes leading teams are making now
• Where to start if your organization hasn't yet

Come ready to benchmark your own readiness — and leave with a clear plan of action.

Mark Brousseau
President, Brousseau & Associates 

Over the past 30 years, Mark Brousseau has established himself as a thought leader on accounts payable, accounts receivable, payments and document automation.   A popular speaker at industry conferences and on webinars and podcasts, Brousseau advises prominent end-users and solutions and services providers on how to use automation to improve document- and payments-driven business processes.  Brousseau has chaired numerous educational conferences and has served on several industry committees and boards.  He resides in Center City Philadelphia with his wife and three sons.

Gordon Walsh
1099 & W-9 Senior Product Solution Consultant, Avalara

Gordon Walsh is Avalara's 1099 & W-9 Senior Product Solution Consultant — and the person enterprise teams turn to when 1099 compliance gets complicated. He spent nearly a decade as a high school history teacher and coach before pivoting into the world of consulting and human capital management. For the past several years, he has specialized in vendor and contractor process management, helping organizations build scalable compliance architectures across their end-to-end 1099 and W-9 workflows. Gordon is known for making complex regulatory changes approachable and for meeting finance teams where they are — whether they're filing 500 forms or 50,000.

Joe Honma
1099 Sales Leader, Avalara

Joe Honma is the 1099 Sales Leader at Avalara, where he’s spent more than a decade helping organizations navigate complex tax compliance challenges. Today, he leads a team focused on helping enterprise finance and AP teams simplify and modernize information reporting at scale.

From W-9 collection and TIN matching to e-filing, ERP integrations, and the shift from FIRE to IRIS, Joe brings a practical perspective shaped by years of working directly with customers and solving real-world compliance challenges.

Originally from Hawaii, Joe brings a little aloha to the world of tax compliance, along with more than a decade of experience helping organizations stay ahead of an evolving compliance landscape.